Sally Poole is the owner of Poole Communications, with offices in Hannibal, Marshall and Poplar Bluff, Missouri. She is very involved in Hannibal and Quincy, IL., with memberships in the Chamber of Commerce, Hannibal Arts Council, Affordable Community Education, Lions Club and Rotary. She has helped in the fund-raising campaign to build a Hannibal campus for Moberly Area Community College. Currently she is helping to start the Hannibal Chamber Business Development Committee.

I think Mr. Gitomer is right. Cable television is coming on strong. Businesses are creating their own networks on YouTube. Websites that sell effectively are using video to increase viewership and cement sales. We're becoming more sophisticated viewers and are expecting more. We want to be informed and not sold to in the traditional way.

Video is growing in our business. We used to mainly create 30-second comercials and now we are asked to put video on the web, in emails and create YouTube stations for clients that are using technolgy to the fulletst. Even radio and newspapers are using video. Video is a critical part of your business when you need to show how something works or want to educate a customer.

Because of this schools are using video more frequently in the classroom and as an online learning source.

Right now most of the quality you see isn't that great. As time goes by, you'll see more need for better quality video production.

You might want to start thinking about how your business can use video to help your customers (not necessarily sell them). High definition video cameras have dropped dramatically in price. Folks are even producing decent video from their iPhones. Grab a camera and start producing. You might as well get started now so your video looks great - and you have a leg up on the competition.